Colossal megibung at Taman Ujung Sukasada Karangasem broke the world record of largest communal eating, 19,768 people participated in this megibung (communal eating) event. The participants came from all over Karangasem regency. The participants of megibung were divided into groups called sela; each group consists of eight people of same gender, sitting cross-legged in circle on the grass. There were 2,452 sela (group of eight people) and 152 wanci (a special table for one person).

Food for megibung was arranged in accordance with the philosophy of Balinese cosmogony. The food consisted of a big portion of nasi (steam rice) completed with the variety of side dishes like pork satay, lawar (mixture of vegetable and pork) and some vegetable. The side dishes were arranged based on the Balinese cosmogony. The gegecok putih (white mixture of vegetable and pork) was placed on the east side of the nasi (steam rice), gegecok kuning (yellow mixture of vegetable and pork) was placed on the west side of the nasi (steam rice), urab barak (red mixture of vegetable and pork) was placed on the south side of the nasi (steam rice), and the star fruit leaves lawar (black mixture of vegetable and pork) was placed on the north side of the nasi (steam rice).

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The word “megibung” is from the Balinese dialect meaning people eating communally. It is traditional custom of the Karangasem regency and normally occurs when there is a lot of work to be done in the village like a temple ceremony or social work. The megibung usually involves hundreds of people. The participants of megibung are divided into groups; each group consists of eight people of same gender, sitting cross-legged in circle on a mat or banana leaves and enjoying the delicious food. The participants eat with their right hand no spoon or fork is used.

The food eaten in megibung is arranged into sets of food called gibungan. The gibungan is set of foods comprise of various food that can be scooped easily with the hand, such as pesan (spicy fish wrapped in banana leaves), be guling (suckling pig), siap / bebek betutu (roast chicken or duck), spicy vegetables such as jukut ares (soup made from a banana tree trunk), jukut urab (strong smelling salad served warm) or lawar (grated coconut, condiments, meat and sometimes raw blood) and nasi putih / nasi kuning (white or yellow rice). Brem (balinese rice wine) or tuak (palm toddy) is always the favorite drink during megibung. The gibungan (food) is placed on a mat or banana leaves, no table is used in the megibung. (more…)